How I feed my 72 Gallon disposal unit...
Morning Feeding
In the morning (7:15am Mon-Fri | 8am Sat-Sun) while brushing my teeth, the fish get fed for about 3-4 minutes or until I start gaging on toothpaste. Their cereal meal consists of yummy corn flakes: TetraColor Tropical Crisps (Tetra)
If I had to take a measurement...I would say roughly 15-20 crisp rounds total (across 2 pinches).
The 2 Bala Sharks noisily snap at the surface (occasionally snapping water into my face) causing the majority of crisps to descend toward the rest of the fish waiting below. The 2 molly stay at the top with the rest of the smaller fish happily eating what is left floating. (At the back end of a pinch, I tend to grind my fingers together so the smaller fish have a greater chance to eat).
At the bottom, the following fish begin their frenzy. The reason why this topic ‘Chubby Gold Barbs - Obese?’ was posted.
Mr. LFS suggested super friendly bossy shy hiding fin nipping Electric Yellow Cichlid starts to mouth the crisps...not one at a time...more like 2 or 3 at a time. (Since I added 2 cave decorations, he has become a favored fish. King of the tank. He performs that crazy backward swimming dance shaking thing. Sometimes scoops up sand and spits it out at me. Swims up/down/left/right following my hand. I wish he were honest. I know all he wants is food. lil’ bas*tard. Imagine trying to impress me like that...) Team Chub (8 gold barbs) just go crazy. They eat so fast and furious I catch them flicking their bodies against the sand to kick up additional food. Pretty smart fish. They don't seem to stop. Food mouth. Food Mouth. Flick. Food Mouth. Flick.
Ok long winded explanation....I step away...finish getting ready for work...I come back (20 min)...do my Mr. Roger’s shoe impression in front of the tank and I observe the following:
Maid services has begun. Team Loach, Team Cory, Teach ADF are sifting the sand doing the final cleanup. The 2 red-fin sharks take turns eating scraps but seen to primarily chase each other around trying to dominate. Team Chub is also present.
My rotated morning going away present/snack consists of 1 cube of ONE of the following items:
- Spirulina Brine Shrimp (San Francisco Bay Brand) - Fish love it. Little messy.
- Frozen Daphnia (Hikari) - Fish devour this - causes temporary snow effect in tank. Messy and I know my filters love eating it.
I will toss it up in the plants so the smaller fish can peck at it before it melts and sinks. Not much of that cube is left to settle at the bottom. The dominating fish is the Red-Fin this time along with the Mollys and Bala. Team Chub is finally taking a break and sitting this one out.
Evening Feeding
Blah Blah Blah I get home between the hours of 6 - 9 depending if I hang out in the city or not. I start the ‘TetraColor Tropical Crisps’ routine. On a side note... with the long hours away from the tank...I have eight 2" japanese moss balls. Team Chub and Team ADF love hanging around these things. Often...and I find it pretty hilarious...I catch a few of the Barbs tearing bits of moss and chewing it like tobacco. I don't know if this source of food is a bad thing but heck its nice having the garden mowed for free.
Their evening Om Nom Nom Nom feast is rotated with 1 cube of ONE of the following items
- Frozen Bloodworms (San Francisco Bay Brand) - Fish love to eat these - I hate to touch these.
- Frozen White Mosquito Larvae (San Francisco Bay Brand) - Mr. LFS (Electric Yellow Lab) avoid these.
- Frozen Beefheart (San Francisco Bay Brand) - Phasing these out because its a total cloudy mess.
- Frozen Brine Shrimp (San Francisco Bay Brand) - Fish loves these. I hate them because the water goes cloudy.
I most of the time feed this cube by hand. Sort of a trust thing I got going with my fish. When friends and family are over they get a kick out of feeding them this way as well.
AS the night winds down...I get to bed around 12am. So I turn on the moon light (using those awesome Blue, White Lunar Lights) and drop the following items for Team AFD, Team Cory, and Team Loach...
Noctural/Night Feeding
- Algae Wafers (Hikari) - Even days (2 wafers) - Mr. LFS enjoys hording these and dragging them into his burrow/cave. The molly’s nip at these things like its a piece of candy. Team Cory freak out with joy. All in all they are gone by morning.
- Emerald Entrée (San Francisco Bay Brand) - Odd days - This stuff gets eaten so quick but its a total mess!
Ok so thats like a pretty typical feeding schedule for my 72 gallon food disposal unit. As summer approaches I decided to invest in an Automated fish feeder so they can get 3 times a day every 8 hours. The portions of TetraColor Tropical Crisps seems to be a little less than what I was pinching manually...but thats probably best for them considering 3x feeding.
Now all that frozen food snacking I purchased will be used primary every other day. They get an extra something in the morning and evening.
Nocturnally nothing changes.
So yah lots of food...almost wish I was a fish in my own tank. I just want to truly optimize the routine and provide a healthier balance to all these starter fish that were suppose to be dead by now. :angryfire: **** you LFS!
Honestly.. I enjoy all of these fish. I am pretty proud they survived so many tank crisis moments. I discovered for myself that even the cheapest fish classified as 'starter' can be the more endearing than a fancier type fish.
Thankfully Mr. LFS suggested super friendly bossy shy hiding fin nipping Electric Yellow Cichlid is behaving with all these community fish... at least for now. I even placed a small mirror in the tank for the King to play/dominate with. Such a lil' bas*ard!
How often do you feed anyway?
